America’s streets are getting rougher

NEW YORK: When it comes to road conditions, drivers in some areas of the US have it far rougher than others. Pandemic-punched budget holes may mean they won’t get smoothed out anytime soon.

Many cities have used lockdown-induced empty streets as an opportunity to make repairs without disrupting traffic.

But more than 700 US cities have said they may cut infrastructure spending because of budget shortfalls, and more states are pushing off construction projects. Funding sources for roads vary by state.

For drivers, roads can be bumpy for their wallets, too. Potholes caused an estimated US$15 billion in damage to American cars over the course of five years, according to a 2016 report by the American automobile Association. The average bill for repairs caused by hitting a hole was about $300.

Three of the large US cities with a high percentages of run-down roads are in California, according to a new analysis of 2018 Federal Highway Administration data published by car-buying app CoPilot.

San Francisco isn’t new to road ridicule: a 2016 report also found it was the worst in the country, costing local drivers about US$1,000 per year.

At the state level, bad roads range from Georgia with only 6% of large urban roads in rough shape to Rhode Island, with almost half.